DECEMBER 055
hobart
This used to be a real wharfies' pub.
It was nicknamed 'The Blood' because
fishermen used to brawl outside.
Below, from left:
Raise your glass
to Fatty Appleton
and the Reverend
at Knopwoods
Retreat; Brothel
madam Ma
Dwyer was here;
Hobart Harbour
in 1900.
wearing a mink coat and sneakers. She
also ran the city's Shopping List between
1940 and 1955, where you listed the items
you needed and she procured them.
Usually, they were sourced illegally from
the docks with the help of the notorious
Appleton Brothers, a one-family cartel.
Fatty Appleton could carry two beer
barrels at once, one under each arm,
photographic proof of which exists at
Knopwoods Retreat, a popular pub a few
doors down. The pub wa s named after
the Reverend Robert Knopwood, a man
apparently so gravely ill that in one yea r he
required 4,000 gallons of 'medicinal' rum.
The pub opened as the Whalers' Return
in 1829 before taking the name of the
raunchy reverend, whose taste for the
finer things in life extended to the ladies.
Parting compa ny with Fleetwood,
I pop in for a pint a nd find myself perched
at the bar, eye to eye with a replica of
Knopwood's death mask.
Behind me, Appleton
holds his ba rrels aloft, his
glare more challenging
than celebratory.
"This used to be
a real wharfies' pub,"
says the current owner,
Kate Cawthorn. "It was nicknamed 'The
Blood' because fishermen used to brawl
outside its sa ndstone walls." These days,
it's a far more genial place and its booths
a re packed with locals a nd travellers.
"We still get some older drinkers who
remember when the coolroom was the
ladies' lounge, where men could enter
by invitation only," Cawthorn says.
That's what is so special about Hobart's
pubs. They don't wea r their history
heavily but stand as museums to the
drinkers of old, now frequented by a
new breed of revellers clutching beers
by fa shionable microbreweries. While
harbourside pubs in Sydney a re peopled
with tourists keen for the views, Hoba rt's
pubs retain the feel of an intimate local,
although visitors are always welcome.
As I call it a night, the dockside pubs
are full to the brim with patrons and the
fishing boats are clumped against the
timber docks. Unlike the ea rly days,
I don't have to run back to my hotel for
fea r of being mugged by a shady figure
lurking in a da rk alley.
Getting there • To book your Virgin Blue
f light to Hobart, visit www.virginblue.
com.au or call 13 67 89 (in Australia).
HISTORIC HAUNTS
Victoria Tavern
30 Murray Street,
+61 3 6224 6663
Customs House Hotel
1 Murray Street,
+61 3 6234 6645,
www.customs
househotel.com
Telegraph Hotel
19 Morrison Street,
+61 3 6234 6254
Irish Murphy's
21 Salamanca Place,
+61 3 6223 1119,
www.irishmurphys.com.au
Knopwoods Retreat
39 Salamanca Place,
+61 3 6223 5808
LOCAL KNOWLEDGE
Hobart Historic Tours
Informative tours with
local historian Elizabeth
Fleetwood, +61 3 6278
3338, www.hobart
historictours.com.au